Poultry-house.



F. w. HOWARD.

POULTRY HOUSE.

APPLICATION IILBD HOV. 4,1910.

' Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

a sun's-sum 1.

Attorneys Witnesses xouuuul muooink couwummron. n. c.

F. W. HOWARD.

POULTRY HOUSE. APPLICATION IILBD 11011.4,1910.

1,004,169. Patented S t.26, 1911.

- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor Attorneys COLUlhBlA PLANOGIAPH COUWASNING'ION, I). C.'

FRED W. HOWARD, OF ALFRED, NEW YORK.

' POULTRY-HOUSE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

Application filed November 4, 1910. Serial No. 590,678.

; is a specification.

This invention relates to poultry coops and has for its object the provision of a knock-down coop the parts of which can be readily assembled or set up and can be r; quickly taken apart and bundled together so asto occupy a comparatively small space.

A further object is to provide a coop having an upper story which is shiftable relative to the lower story and is provided with a movable roof portion, said roof portion ineluding .sections which can be elevated for the purpose of ventilating the coop.

A further object is to provide a movable floor section having nests mounted thereon a; in a novel manner, access to the nests being easy.

Another object is to provide means whereby the interior of the coop can be readily cleaned.

- With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective View of the coop, the various parts thereof being shifted out of their normal positions for the purpose of properly ventilating the coop and for permitting easy access to the interior thereof. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the coop. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through one of the movably mounted end walls carrying a nest. Fig. 4 is r a detail view of one of the roof supporting hangers. Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical transverse section through one of the lower side walls. Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on line A-B of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section through a portion of one side of the coop and the floor of the upper compartment.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a lower side wall in the form of a frame which is preferably rectangular and which has a closure 2 hingedly connected to the upper portion thereof and adapted to normally lie within the frame so as to completely close it. A screen frame 3 is secured to the inner face of frame 1 and the screen fabric 4 carried by the frame 3, extends entirely across the opening in the frame 1 so that, when the closure 2 is raised, said screen fabric will prevent poultry from leaving the coop through the opening in the frame 1. One or more of these closures 2 may be provided upon the frame 1. The other lower side wall of the coop consists of a frame 6 carrying a fabric 8 adapted to extend across one end portion of the opening within the frame 6. Guide cleats 9 are secured back of the frame 6 and are parallel, these cleats serving to hold the fabric in place and being grooved to receive ribs 10 formed upon the upper and lower rails of a screen frame 11, this screen frame carrying a fabric 12 which serves to prevent the exit of poultry through the frame 6. It is of course apparent that this screen frame 11 can be slid longitudinally for the purpose of opening one half of the frame 6 wherever desired. Closures 13 are hingedly connected to the upper portion of the frame 6 and a cord 14 is attached, at its ends, to these closures and passes loosely through an upstanding arm 15 projecting from the middle portion of the frame 6. By means of this cord, the closures 13 can be raised or lowered and supported at any position to which they may be adjusted. Where more than one closure 2 is mounted within the frame 1, a similar arrangement of adjusting cord.and arm may be provided, as indicated generally at 16 in Fig. 2.

Each of the lower side walls 1 and 6 has antifriction rollers 17 mounted. in the top portion thereof for the purpose hereinafter set forth. Recesses 18 are formed in the ends of these lower side walls and are adapted to receive dowel pins 19 extending been indicated generally at 25, includes side and end strips 26 and recesses 27 are formed along the sides and ends of the floor and are adapted to receive dowel pins 28. Certain of these pins extend from the lower longitudinal frame pieces 29 of the upper side walls 30 and 31 respectively of the coop. The side wall 30 is completely closed, as shown in Fig. 1, while the other side wall I preferably has a window 32.

Upper end walls 33 and 34 are secured between the ends of the walls and 31 in the same manner as are the lower end walls secured between the lower side walls.

/ The end wall 33 is preferably in the form of a rectangular frame having a door 35 hinged to one side portion thereof and carrying, upon its inner face, a desired number of nests 36. The other end wall 34 may be provided with netting, as shown at 37, and

1 both this wall and the sash 32 may, if preferred, have lights secured therein.

An opening 38 is formed in the floor 25 preferably adjacent one corner and may be closed by means of a slide 39 mounted on cleats 40 secured to the floor 25. A ladder 41 is preferably arrangedv under this opening so that poultry may easily pass up wardly from the lower compartment to the upper compartment by way of the opening 38.

The roof structure used in connection with the coop consists of end pieces 42 connected by a ridge pole 43 and side strips 44, there being frames 45 secured between the side strips and the ridge pole, these frames carrying screen fabrics 46. The top of the roof structure is made up of two panels 47 hingedly connected to the ridge pole and sufliciently large to completely cover the end members 42 and the side strips 44 when said panels are in their lowermost positions. Each of the panels has a hanger 48 pivotally connected to it and provided with a longitudinal slot 49, there being notches or recesses 50 in one wall of each slot. These hangers slidably engage a holding stud 51 secured to one of the rafters 52 of the roof structure and it will be apparent that, when either of the panels 47 is raised, its hanger 48 will slide upon the supporting element 51 and said element can be placed within any one of the recesses 50 so as to hold the hanger and its panel against downward movement. A ventilating opening 53, properly screened, is placed in oneend of the roof structure. It is to be understood of course, that this roof structure is separate from the upper side walls and can be shifted longitudinally relatively thereto as indicated in Fig. 1.

A perch of special construction may be used within the coop, this perch including a metallic drip board 54 having standards 55 supporting a perch strip or roost 56. The drip board 54 can be moved bodily out of the upper compartment of the coop by swinging the door 35 to open position. Moreover, with this door open, access can be readily had to the nests 36 and the floor can be readily cleaned. By raising the i closures 2 and 13 air is permitted to freely circulate through the lower compartment of the coop and by sliding the screen 11 out of normal position, the interior of the lower compartment can be easily reached for the purpose of spading the ground or for any other purpose. As indicated in Fig. 1, the structure making up the upper compartment can be shifted longitudinally upon the lower structure and the roof structure can also be shifted longitudinally upon the structure of the upper compartment. Said roof structure has its end elements 42 detachably connected to the ridge pole and to the side strips and all of the parts of the coop can, therefore, be readily disconnected and collapsed to a compact bundle which is easily to store or transport.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A coop including a lower structure thereof, closures hingedly connected to the upper portions of the side walls, said arms being arranged between the closures, a flexible connection between the closures at each side of the structure, said connection being slidably mounted in the upper portion of the adjacent arm, and an upper structure slidably mounted on the lower structure and between the arms.

2. A coop including a lower structure made up of detachably connected side and end walls, said side walls including screens, arms extending upwardly across the side walls and above the lower structure, said arms being located adjacent the centers of the side walls, closures hingedly connected to the upper portions of the side walls, said arms being extended between and above the closures, a flexible connection between the closures at each side of the coop, said connection slidably engaging the adjacent arm, an upper structure movably mounted on the lower structure and arranged between the arms, said upper structure consisting as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signaof detachably connected end and side panels, ture 1n the presence of two witnesses.

and a roof structure supported by and slidably mounted on said upper structure, said FRED HOWARD roof structure including screens, and clo- Witnesses: sures normally covering the screens. E. E. HAMILTON, In testimony that I claim the foregoing E. A. GAMON.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0." i 

